Holiday Shopping: The Great Soap Spectacular

Holiday shopping tip: no one needs bath salts, which is why they're usually regifted as Secret Santa gifts at your office holiday party. Luxurious, beautifully wrapped soaps, however, are a completely different story.  Here are some of my faves, broken down by category.

Vintage and vintage-inspired:

Royal Swedish Jubilee Soap has played official "soapmaster" (yes, there exists such a designation and it sounds fabulous) to the Swedish Royal Family for nearly 100 years. The Swedish import has a light, musky scent and comes beautifully packaged in a rather fancy teal box. $13.95 for a set of two @ Le Train Bleu.

Savon de Marseille’s olive oil and palm oil soaps have been around for 600 years. Prices vary, depending on the size of the brick.

Soaps on ropes:

Dr. Harris's Soap on a Rope, $25

Tom Ford for Men Cleansing Bar, $18

Pretty Packages you won’t want to unwrap:

Lucia soaps from Shoestring Home, via Design*Sponge. $11 each.

Claus Porto Favorito by LAFCO, $16.

And of course, you can never go wrong with anything from Fresh, $12-$13 each

 This is totally weird, but I used to eat soap as a baby. My mother would always discover tiny teeth marks in our bars and had to hide them from me. Though the habit left me long ago, I’ll have to quell the urge to bite these good-enough-to-eat varieties:

Gingerbread joy soaps, $4 for a pack of three.

Lemon squares soap, $4 each

Sweet Orange Peppermint Soap, $5.50 each

Photo credit:
1) www.letrainbleu.com
2) www.frenchsoaps.com
3) www.bigelowchemists.com
4) www.saks.com
5) www.bluemercury.com
6) www.barneys.com
7) www.etsy.com/shop/sonatasoap
8) www.etsy.com/sunbasilgarden
9) www.etsy.com/catherinefilippelli